Elite Indonesian military divers battled strong currents on Thursday in an effort to reach the submerged tail of crashed AirAsia Flight 8501 in the hopes of finding its crucial black box data recorders.

The plane crashed on December 28 during stormy weather as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, claiming the lives of all 162 people on board.

Indonesian Military chief General Moeldoko surveys the area with binoculars as navy divers take part in an operation to raise the tail of AirAsia QZ8501 from the Java Sea. Photo: AFP

Bad weather and huge waves have plagued multinational efforts to find the wreckage of the plane in the Java Sea, as well as all of the bodies and the black boxes that should contain the pilots' last words.

The biggest breakthrough came on Wednesday with the discovery of the tail, which is where the black boxes are kept, buried into the seabed 30 metres (100 feet) underwater.